New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

Reuters Staff

6 Min Read

-----------------------(07:15 / 1815 GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,401.67 +46.24 NZSX 50 4,914.08 -13.10
DJIA 15,961.70 +85.48 Nikkei 15,165.92 +289.51
NASDAQ 3,985.97 +13.23 FTSE 6,693.44 +27.31
S&P 500 1,798.18 +7.56 Hang Seng 23,032.15 +383.00
SPI 200 Fut 5,409.00 +0.00 TRJCRB Index 274.34 +0.49
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 4.185 -0.026 US 10 YR Bond 2.703 +0.000
NZ 10 YR Bond 4.735 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 3.796 +0.000
Currencies (Prev at 7pm NZST)
AUD US$ 0.9362 0.9346 NZD US$ 0.8325 0.8291
EUR US$ 1.3498 1.3461 Yen US$ 100.08 100.08
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 1287.25 Silver (Lon) 20.635
Gold (NY) 1290.10 Light Crude 93.84
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Overnight market action with latest New York figures.
EQUITIES
NEW YORK - The Dow and the S&P 500 hit new highs on Friday
for a sixth straight week of gains, as investors continued to
take cues from Federal Reserve Chair nominee Janet Yellen, who
told a Senate Committee it was too early to end the central
bank's stimulus.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 85.48 points,
or 0.54 percent, at 15,961.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
was up 7.56 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,798.18. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was up 13.23 points, or 0.33
percent, at 3,985.97.
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LONDON - Britain's top shares rose on Friday, bolstered by
the prospect of continued U.S. monetary stimulus and technical
support, with energy stocks and miners posting the biggest
gains.
London's blue chip index gained 27.31 points, or 0.4
percent, to 6,693.44, after the Federal Reserve's
chairman-designate Janet Yellen defended the bank's quantitative
easing programme (QE), dispelling concerns about an early
reduction of the asset purchases.
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TOKYO - A slide in the yen spurred Tokyo's Nikkei share
average 2 percent higher on Friday to above 15,000 for the first
time in six months, helping the benchmark post its best weekly
rise in four years.
Gains in financial companies on strong quarterly earnings
also boosted the Nikkei, which rose 289.51 to end at
15,165.92 and was up 7.7 percent for the week.
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FOREIGN EXCHANGE
NEW YORK - The safe-haven dollar and yen fell on Friday
after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen lifted investor
appetite for riskier assets by defending the U.S. central bank's
current stimulus measures.
The dollar index fell 0.2 percent to 80.83. On the
week, the dollar index was down 0.6 percent, its weakest weekly
performance since Oct. 18.
The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.3494, after
touching $1.3505, its highest since Nov. 7. It gained 0.8
percent against the dollar this week.
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TREASURIES
NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury debt prices were little changed on
Friday after the fading of a rally sparked by Federal Reserve
Chair nominee Janet Yellen, who said the U.S. central bank will
likely cling to its stimulative monetary policy.
On light trading volume, prices of benchmark 10-year
Treasury notes were little changed on the day at
100-13/32 to yield 2.703 percent, while the 30-year bond
was up 2/32 in price at 99-6/32 for a yield of 3.797
percent.
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COMMODITIES
GOLD
NEW YORK - Gold prices were little changed on Friday, taking
a breather after a two-day rise but underpinned by expectations
that the nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen,
would continue easy monetary policy in that role.
Spot gold inched down 10 cents to $1,286.91 an ounce
by 1:57 p.m. EST (1857 GMT), after gaining nearly 1 percent in
each of the previous two sessions.
U.S. Comex gold futures settled up $1.10 at
$1,287.40 an ounce, with trading volume on track to finish
sharply below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data
showed.
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BASE METALS
LONDON - Copper hovered near three-month lows on Friday on
persistent worries about the tapering of monetary stimulus in
the United States and after data showed a slowdown in
infrastructure spending in the Chinese power sector.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange
closed at $7,010 a tonne from $6,992 at the close on Thursday.
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OIL
NEW YORK - Oil rose slightly on Friday in choppy trade as
markets weighed Libyan supply outages and supportive comments
from the Fed chair nominee against reports that a deal with Iran
may be near on its nuclear program.
Brent crude for January delivery, in its first day
as the new front-month, ended 22 cents higher at $108.50 a
barrel, after trading as high as $108.65.
U.S. crude ended up 9 cents at $93.84 a barrel after
trading up to $94.55. It ended with its sixth straight week of
losses as supplies remain high. The December U.S. crude oil
futures contract expires at the end of trading on Wednesday.
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